Overturned call in 2nd inning kick-starts Tigers' 14-run rally

Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig kneels during a pitching change against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Detroit, Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Puig nearly changed the game with a throw from the outfield that originally produced an out, a play which was overturned by replay.
PAUL SANCYA — The Associated Press

It originally looked as if the laser-armed Yasiel Puig had thrown out Torii Hunter trying to stretch a single into a double to start the second inning, but instant replay changed the out call to safe, and in the process began to change the complexion of the game.

Hunter’s bad decision-turned-double kick-started a five-run second inning for the Detroit Tigers, allowing them to tie up a game that had looked lopsided just an inning before.

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And they wouldn’t stop there, eventually scoring 14 unanswered runs to beat the Dodgers 14-5.

It may have been different had Puig actually thrown Hunter out.

“We were talking about that. That’s how replay has changed the game. It probably changes the entire inning, really. They have one out and nobody on, instead of a runner on second, no outs,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.

“It just goes to show you that one — you know, the old butterfly effect — one thing changes in the game, and it changes the rest of the game. Or at least, in this case, the rest of the inning.”

The rest of the inning was just what the Tigers needed, after Justin Verlander left a number of pitches in the zone, getting battered around for five quick runs in the first inning.

“We got some work to do,” Hunter said.

He led off the second inning with a laser shot off the wall in right field, which caromed right back to the Dodgers’ right fielder, Puig. In turn, he spun and threw a strike to second base, where shortstop Miguel Rojas “slapped” the tag on Hunter. [WATCH THE PLAY HERE]

“I touched the bag, and he hit me in the baby-maker. That’s how I knew I was safe. Because I felt myself hit the corner of the bag, and he hit me in the baby-maker — it hurt,” Hunter said of the high tag.

“I knew I was on TV, so I was trying not to grab it.”

Instantly, Hunter signaled “safe” to the Tigers dugout, and Ausmus eventually trotted out to chat with the umpires before challenging.

Hunter watched the replay on the big screen, and trotted back out to second, even before the ruling was officially overturned.

Nick Castellanos, Alex Avila and Eugenio Suarez followed with singles.

Hunter, however, stopped at third base on Castellanos’ single to right field, unwilling to test Puig’s arm again.

“Naw, Puig doesn’t surprise me. We all know he’s got a 65(-grade) super arm. I was trying to test him, get something going. I was safe, but he scared me. I told him I wasn’t going to run off him anymore,” Hunter said.

“He gave me the finger (wag), and I said ‘I’m not going to do that anymore.’ We got a base hit, and I had to try to see if he was going to catch it or not. I was going to try to go home, and he was like ‘You better not.’

“He’s a good player, man. He’s throwing hard. Loves to throw, you can tell.”

The Tigers played station-to-station much of the night, allowing their plentiful base hits — a season-high 20 — to score runs, rather than power. They hit no home runs.

As for the overturned call changing the entire game?

“It would’ve been nice to get the first out of the inning,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said, “but we did give up 14 runs.”